HELL AND BACK
by Kirbysbabe
Summary: Hanley is upset that first squad hadn't reported in and now is long overdue.


_Copyright: 08/31/16_

 _Fan-Fiction based on TV Show Combat! Copyright Selmur Production, Inc., ABC, Image Productions etc._ _Disclaimer: Combat! and its characters do not belong to me, t_ _his WWII story is a piece of fan-fiction_ _and I am not being compensated in any tangible way for this story._

HELL AND BACK

Lt. Hanley had been waiting on Saunders and his squad, they were nearly three hours overdue. It just wasn't like Saunders not to check in. Something must have gone awfully wrong. It was driving Hanley crazy not knowing as he sat in what used to be Madam Brunet's Patisserie. He pulled a pack of Pall Mall cigarettes from his pocket. He looked at the pack with distaste. He wished he had a pack of Lucky's but beggars couldn't be choosers. The men at the front always got the short end of the stick. Leftovers, whatever the rear echelon didn't want.

Damn S2, would they ever get anything right? It was supposed to be an easy recon. What the hell happened now? Did intelligence really believe everything the German prisoners would tell them? Do the Germans just say, "Amerikaner, let me take a look at your map. Do you see this area right here? It doesn't have a single platoon much less a squad in this area. You send your men to that sector and have them take a look around, you'll see not a single German soldier."

While standing in the doorway of his headquarters, Hanley took another drag of his cigarette. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw first squad stumbling up the road. As the men got closer, an old adage came to mind; the men looked exactly like what the cat had dragged in. Littlejohn was on point. He had a bloody bandage wrapped around his head. Caje's arm was bandaged and in a sling. Although Billy was limping, he and Doc were carrying Saunders on a crude interpretation of a stretcher. Brockmeyer had a bandage on his upper arm and on his hand. Like always, Kirby was bringing up the rear. He looked worn out but was he still was in one piece.

"Kirby, I'm gonna get everybody over to the aid station. You better go check in."

From Kirby's vantage point, he could see Hanley's expression and it wasn't a happy one. "Yea okay Doc, I gotta feelin' he's gonna want to have a long talk with me."

"Kirby!" yelled Hanley. "We need to talk!"

Kirby rolled his eyes. "Told ya," he whispered.

"Now!"

"Yes sir. I'll see ya later Doc."

Hanley walked back inside and sat down at his so-called desk.

As exhausted as he was, Kirby still sprinted over to the shop.

As he walked in, he saluted Hanley.

"Kirby you're three hours late! It was a simple recon! Why didn't you report in? Well, aren't you going say anything?"

Hanley realized he hadn't given the man a chance to speak. He also noticed that Kirby was still standing at attention.

Hanley let out a sigh. "At ease, Kirby. Here, sit down."

Kirby pulled up a crate and sat down in front of Hanley's desk.

He could see the worry in Kirby's eyes.

"Just tell me what happened."

Kirby took a deep breath. "We left at O-five hundred, like you ordered and after that, nothin' seemed to go right. It should have taken us no more than hour and a half to get to Saint Colette but we had to keep maneuverin' around the Krauts, they were everywhere. We went north east and we found a platoon practically in front of us. Then Sarge pulled out his map and try an alternative route and damned if they weren't there. It took us two and a half hours. As we began to advance towards the village, that's when all Hell broke loose."

"The Krauts had the high ground and we came under machine gun and mortar fire. We all found a bit of cover but Sarge, Caje and Billy were practically in front of them. Littlejohn and Doc had found cover by a large boulder on their right flank and Brockmeyer and I were behind them. We found a fallen log and we were tryin' to shoot from where we were but it wasn't doin' much good."

"Caje told me that Sarge wanted to call in for tank support but the radio had been shot to pieces. I'm glad that the Krauts had lousy aim otherwise they might have gotten Billy instead."

"Sarge yelled something to Littlejohn but I was too far away to hear what he said. Then I heard a whistle above all the noise. It Sarge was lettin' us know they were comin' over and to give them some cover."

"We all started shootin' again, the guys slid down the hill a bit. One by one they made a zigzag run toward us. They literally threw themselves over that log. Ya know Lieutenant, it was by the grace of God that none of them got hit."

"Sarge asked how many grenades we all had. This time I wish we had crate full instead of just five. He said we were gonna try and take out the mortar and the machine gun."

"Ya know, I'd follow Sarge into Hell and back and look forward to the trip but I just had an awful feelin' about flankin them Krauts."

Hanley rubbed his mouth to keep from smiling. He could picture the men fighting Nazi devils with pitchforks.

"Sarge said that him, Caje and me were gonna try and go around to the right and flank em'. Sarge had me give my B.A.R. to Littlejohn so he could cover us and I took his M-1. Anyways, we started our climb; the Krauts didn't see us at first. They were concentratin' on our guys; they were really pouring it on them. I could hear Littlejohn firin' away. I'm yellin' inside my head for him to slow down. I was afraid the barrel was gonna overheat. Billy musta told him because he switched to short bursts. In the meantime we were almost at the top. There were about ten of them up there and one of them saw the Sarge and Caje. He shot both of them. Sarge went down on his knees and still threw the grenade. Caje couldn't throw so I threw one and Sarge threw another. I was sure that we had gotten them all."

"Sarge told me to go check them out. I went over and we had blown them to kingdom come."

"I came back and Caje was tryin' to dress Sarge's wound. A bullet had hit him in the side and he was bleedin' bad. Caje said a bullet ricocheted off his rifle and hit him in the wrist, so I took over bandaging the Sarge. I was yelling for help and Doc and Billy came runnin'."

"Sarge gave me his field glasses and said if I could see the town from the top of the hill, I should draw up a map. I went back up to the top and I could see down into the town."

"Well, did you make the drawing?"

"Yes, sir."

Kirby pulled the map from his jacket and handed it to Hanley.

"I think intelligence would be very interested in everything that is goin' on in that little town. I saw six Panzers and there had to have been at least three battalions. There were a lot of supply trucks too. I told Sarge and he thought they are gettin' ready for a counterattack."

Hanley wrote down the information that Kirby had provided.

"Braddock take this to Captain Jampel. Make sure you put it in his hands."

"You want me to go now?"

"What did you just say?"

"Um, you want me to go now, sir?"

Hanley stood up and walked towards Braddock. "Unless you have something more important to do, like putting in a transfer to Graves Registration?"

"No sir, I'm going right now. I'll make sure Captain Jampel sees this."

"Sir, I want you to know we had to dodge a lot of Krauts on the way back but we still made pretty good time. "

"I was gonna send Billy back but when he was helpin' Sarge down the hill, he stepped into a hole and sprained his ankle. Littlejohn got grazed. He was seein' double and Brockmeyer got hit twice. Doc and I were the only ones that were still in one piece. I just couldn't leave the guys unprotected. Even though we were one messed up squad, we still made pretty good time."

"You did fine, Kirby, You're becoming a good leader and I'm sure Saunders will agree with me."

"Thanks sir but as I said before, I like bein' the B.A.R. man."

"Until Saunders is well enough, you're going to have to take over for a while, four new replacements will be here tomorrow and it will be up to you to show them the ropes.

"Gee thanks, Lieutenant, I can't wait."

"In the meantime, let's go over to the aid station to see how everyone is doing."

"Maybe Sarge will make a fast recovery."

"From what you just told me, I'm not so sure."

"I can wish, can't I?"

THE END


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